Abstract – A Taboo Name and the Transfiguration in Epic Enemy: Ezzelino da Romano in Two Franco-Venetian Texts – This article focuses on the echoes of historical and political events which characterize some medieval Franco-Venetian literary texts. In particular, it develops the hypothesis proposed by Henning Krauss aiming to explain the character of Maximo Çudé in the Franco-Venetian Chevalerie Ogier as a literary transfiguration of the Ghibelline tyrant Ezzelino da Romano. The author adduces some new evidences in support of this hypothesis, suggesting a link to the taboo of Ezzelino’s name in the Franco-Venetian Prophecies de Merlin.
Keywords – Franco-Venetian literature, Ezzelino da Romano, medieval history, literature and politics.

Sorin Şipoş • I valori della fedeltà: Su fede e coraggio al tempo di STEFANO V, duca di Transilvania (1261-1270) • p. 32
Abstract – The Values of Loyalty: On Faith and Bravery at the time of Stephen V, Duke of Transylvania (1261–1270) – The medieval world is structured along suzerainty-vassalage relationships, which involve from the vassal obligations reflected in the established formula of consilium et auxilium. In turn, the suzerain had to help his vassal when the latter needed support. In addition, the contractual relationship had as its basis the fief or the domain conceded by the suzerain to his vassals for the services provided by them. The proper functioning of these relationships was often tested by multiple causes, so that the overlords were not infrequently abandoned by a part of their vassals in the most critical moments, or, on the contrary, some vassals were not supported in their conflicts with some of their neighbors, which had direct repercussions on the above-mentioned relationships. This was the case during Bela IV, king of Hungary’s two conflicts with his eldest son Stephen, at that time Duke of Transylvania, who sought the acknowledgement of his dignity as the younger king of Hungary. After many months of suffering, defeats and humiliations, the victory at Codlea was overwhelmingly important in the evolution of the conflict with King Bela. Stephen had managed to escape alive from the encirclement, and had defeated his opponent in a first confrontation. But perhaps just as important for Stephen was the rekindling of hope for a change in the course of the war. Not accidentally, given these circumstances, Stephen made much of the loyalty, courage and bravery of the people close to him in deciding to reward them. To a great extent, saving him and his family, the new course of the war was largely due to the services provided by those who had remained faithful to him. It is possible that Stephen, who had often proven his courage and bravery and respected his knights, may have been for those who stayed with him a model of the warrior, of the knight who, in a display of his skills, finds solutions to the deadlock. Although present in other sovereigns as well, the apology made to loyalty, courage and bravery when facing death seems perhaps more credible when expressed through Stephen’s voice. The Duke of Transylvania, in the documents issued and kept, makes a true apology to loyalty, faith and courage among his subjects.
Keywords – loyalty, bravery, Transylvania, Bela IV, Stephen V

Alvise Andreose • Il viaggio in Cina di Odorico da Pordenone tra etnografia e mito • p. 41
Abstract – Odorico of Pordenone’s Trip to China between Ethnography and Myth – The friar minor Odoric of Pordenone travelled to Asia and especially to China in the third decade of the fourteenth century. He was one of the first Europeans to reach Khanbaliq (Beijing), then the capital of the Yuan Empire. After his return to Italy in 1330, he dictated to a brother friar a detailed account of his travels, which is usually known as Relatio. This work is an extremely important document for the history of the relationships between Europe and Mongol China in the Middle Ages. A few passages in the Relatio represent a fusion of fact and local legend; therefore, various scholars have expressed doubts about Odoric’s credibility. Nevertheless, his approach to reality turns out to be quite different from the medieval imagery of the Orient and appears to anticipate the modern worldview.
Keywords – Odoric of Pordenone, travel literature, medieval China, Chinese legends, pygmies, dwarves, Classical mythology

Florin Sfrengeu • Opinioni storiografiche sulle fortificazioni nel nord-ovest della Romania e le informazioni presenti nella cronaca anonima Gesta Hungarorum • p. 63 Abstract – Historiographical Opinions on the Defensive Earthworks in Northwestern Romania and Some Information Collected from Gesta Hungarorum, the Chronicle of Anonymus – This article presents the opinions of several archaeologists and historians resulting from the historical and archaeological investigations conducted on the defensive earthworks, dated in 8th to 12th centuries, from northwestern Romania. We present excerpts from the “Gesta Hungarorum” (The Deeds of the Hungarians), the chronicle of the Anonymous Notary (Anonymus), where numerous fortifications and settlements found by the Hungarians upon their arrival in Central Europe, belonging to the Slavic and the Romance populations, were mentioned. The author of the chronicle pointed out that some of the fortifications, with earth walls and ditches, had been built not only by the population found by the Hungarians in the occupied territory, but also by the Hungarians—or by the local population, but at the behest of the latter.
Keywords – defensive earthworks, the chronicle of Anonymus, Romanians, Hungarians, Biharea, Duchy of Menumorut

Aurel Chiriac • Oradea medievale nelle relazioni dei viaggiatori stranieri (secoli XI-XVII)• p. 77
Abstract – Medieval Oradea in the Writings of Foreign Travelers (11th–17th centuries) – The author turn to good account some information regarding medieval Oradea (11th–17th centuries) received from the writings of the foreign travelers who came into contact, on the occasion of military events or other occurrences, with the city on the Crisu Repede river. It involves the ecclesiastic architectural complex – monasteries, cathedrals, the Bishopric Palace and the fortifications that once served to defend the city (earth wall, palisade, pile wall, stone wall and brick wall), insisting on the pentagonal fortress built between the 16th-17th centuries with its exterior and interior walls and the Princely Palace included in the interior walls. Aspects pertaining to fairs and to the multiethnic, multiconfessional and multicultural society of Oradea are also included in the paper.
Keywords – Oradea, Magno Varadinum, monastery, cathedral, fortress, fair, city

Florina Ciure • Alcuni documenti veneziani inediti riguardanti la rivolta antiasburgica di Imre Thököly • p. 89 Abstract – Some Unpublished Venetian Documents Relating to the Anti-Habsburg Uprising of Emerich Thököly – This paper presents some documents from the Archivio di Stato di Venezia about the political movements in Transylvania during the last years of the 17th century, especially regarding Emerich Thököly’s uprising against the Habsburgs. It features the most important information about his life and his political and military actions and analyses the most relevant documents, which accurately describe each step taken by the rebel leader. The documents from the Inquisitori di Stato and Bailo a Costantinopoli, featuring letters received by Thököly from certain confidents as well as those sent to the Venetian representatives at Constantinople, which describe the events occurred between 1684 and 1700, demonstrate the importance of Thököly’s anti-Habsburg uprising for the ruling class of the Serenissima.
Keywords – Venetian Archives, Habsburg Monarchy, Transylvania, Emerich Thököly, Ottoman Empire, uprising

Ion Gumenâi • La nobiltà della Bessarabia, gli avvenimenti polacchi del 1863 e la lealtà verso il potere zarista • p. 106Abstract – The Nobility of Bessarabia, the Polish Events of 1863 and the Loyalty to the Tsarist Regime – The present article focuses on the much debated question of the degree of loyalty displayed by the local Bessarabian nobility to the Russian imperial institution. The starting point of this investigation is the message of the nobility to the Tsar in connection with the events that had occurred in Poland in 1863. In order to better understand this historical event we had to perform an analysis of the same events on both sides of the river Pruth (in Bessarabia and Moldova, that is). We also investigated similar documents generated by other social classes and various ethnic minorities. The existence of a letter signed by the Bessarabian nobility to the Tsar reveals in fact the lack of initiative manifest with the noble community. Also, some special directives given by the imperial government demonstrate the special policy concerning the “Polish problem.” The in-depth analysis of the events and of the message in the letter reveals the prtesence of considerable reluctance in regard to the imperial administration, and a big sympathy for the Poles and the events that took place in the Principalities.
Keywords – Bessarabia, nobility, Russian Empire, Polish, correspondence

Dana Pantea • Alcuni aspetti della percezione dell’Inghilterra e del popolo inglese: Nella stampa romena del XIX secolo e dell’inizio del XX secolo • p. 116 Abstract – Aspects Regarding the Perception of England and the English People in the Romanian Press of the 19th Century and the Early 20th Century – Ever since its beginning, media has had a great impact upon society. The first newspapers date far back in time to distant China, to the year 911. In Europe, the first newspaper was issued in Anvers in 1605 and from that moment on the newspapers and journals would bring their contribution to the education of their readers, to disseminating information and culture, to forging and later on to manipulating public opinion. The press developed in Southeastern Europe especially during the 19th century, when the emerging nations need it in order to enlighten their people and determine them to fight for their independence. In the three Romanian Provinces the intellectual elite would approach different topics and examples from the life and history of other nations, thus stirring the Romanians to fight for their emancipation and liberty. This paper makes an analysis of the image of the English and of England in the collective mentality of the Romanians, as it appears in various newspapers and journals.
Keywords England, image, stereotypes, collective mentality

Sondaggi sul comunismo p. 126

Radu Romînașu • Storia, letteratura e detenzione: Il movimento Rugul aprins – un’altra forma di resistenza anticomunista (1945-1948) • p. 126 Abstract – History, Literature and Detention: The Movement of “The Burning Bush”—Another Form of Anti-Communist Resistance (1945–1948) – The movement of “The Burning Bush” took place between 1945 and 1948, at the Antim Monastery in Bucharest under the auspices of Alexandru Teodorescu a.k.a. Sandu Tudor (his pen name). The movement was made up of the community of monks – students from Antim, in their great majority attending courses in theology, but also in philosophy, fine arts, literature and math. A group of nonprofessionals joined them, drawn by the spiritual changes occurred in Sandu Tudor’s life, and especially by the chance of mounting a resistance, of another persuasion than the classic one, against the tendency to impose a communist and atheist dictatorship in Romania. In essence, it was a preparation for the upcoming communist great spiritual darkness, and the mysterious survival password was the Prayer of the Heart or the Prayer of Jesus. As a result, “The Burning Bush” was a major response of the Romanian intelligentsia to the spiritual assassination prepared, since 1945, in Romania. The activity of the group consisted in some conferences (literary meetings, discussions), combined with exercises of silent prayer (the prayer of the heart) and personal meditation. The intellectuals discovered in these meetings at Antim an effective form of retreat, escape, resistance and even survival in the new political, social and cultural order that had gradually emerged in Romania after the end of the war. Through this cultural-spiritual movement, the group members sought to flee from a society in which censorship, imposture, pseudo-culture and atheism were required as basic rules of existence, from a world constrained to obey the demagogic speeches about the benefits of communism and the excellent relations of the Romanians with “the great friend from the East”. Many members of the group were arrested and sentenced to long prison terms by the communist regime’s political police, charged with criminal activities against the working class and the social reforms.
Keywords – spirituality, mysticism, intellectuality, literature, resistance

Antonio Faur • Documenti diplomatici riguardanti la fuga dalla Romania nel 1949 dello studente Corneliu Stoian • p. 137
Abstract – Diplomatic Documents on Student Corneliu Stoian’s Escape from Romania in 1949 – The author presents a heroic episode dating back to 1949. The Romanian student Corneliu Stoian managed to highjack a plane belonging to TARS Company, that flew from Timişoara to Bucharest. Threatening the pilot with a revolver, he compelled him to change the course and go to Greece, where they landed on Thessaloniki airport. Here, the student who had “escaped” from the communist camp was approached by Greek journalists. They asked him questions on the dramatic reality in Romania, where the new political power had instituted the Stalinist terror, filling the prisons with those expressing anti-communist feelings and opposing the Soviet influence imposed by Moscow. The Soviets had occupied the whole Romanian territory in the autumn of 1944. Most documents used by the author (from the Archives of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs) refer to Corneliu Stoian’s experience before “escaping” from Romania (the prisons he had been in and his involvement in organizing a resistance group at a school in Bucharest), his opinions of the repressive policy of the Romanian authorities and the deterioration of the standards of living. He stated that he had made efforts to be free. Yet he could not enjoy his personal “success” to the full, as hundreds of thousands of Romanians (from former politicians and intellectuals to peasants) were arrested by the political police (Securitate) of the communist state and were imprisoned. There, they were subject to terrible trauma and pressure. In his opinion, the UN representatives had to hear about these facts. At the same time, countries in the free world had to be informed and have a firm attitude against such destructive policies. Another interesting aspect the Romanian student referred to focused on Greek communists in Romania. They reached the Romanian territory due to the support granted by the Soviet Union and its satellites to the Greek communists. Among the Greeks who were provided shelter in Romania were several thousand children. Some of them were sheltered in the Baroque Palace in Oradea, an important monument. They ruined it in a short time. It took a large amount of money and three years of labor (1968-1971) to refurbish it and turn it into a cultural monument, the Tara Crisurilor Museum.
Keywords – student, plane, highjack, Thessaloniki, Stoian

Florin Dobrei • Ai tempi della censura: La stampa teologica ortodossa nella Romania comunista • p. 142 Abstract – In Times of Censorship: Orthodox Theological Press in Communist Romania – Switching sides and turning against Germany on 23 August 1944, followed by the establishment of the first Soviet-backed Government on 6 March 1945, and then by the abolition of monarchy on 30 December 1947 meant for the Romanian state the prelude to profound political, social, economic and cultural changes. Within the new “multilaterally developed” and at the same time deeply atheistic society, the Romanian Orthodox Church, removed entirely from state life, was seen as a “tolerated” institution, deprived of its customary cultural, charitable and pastoral-missionary responsibilities. As far as the press is concerned, 1948 brought with it an almost total suppression of inter-war ecclesiastic magazines and periodicals. The only magazines authorized were the central ones, namely “Romanian Orthodox Church”, “Theological Studies”, “Orthodoxy” and the “Voice of the Church” in Bucharest, the publications of the official bodies—“The Metropolitan See of Moldavia and Suceava” (Iasi), “The Metropolitan See of Transylvania” (Sibiu), “The Metropolitan See of Oltenia” (Craiova) and “The Metropolitan See of Banat” (Timişoara), and the archdiocesan sheet “The Romanian Telegraph” (Sibiu)—but even these publications had an intensely politicized content (especially in the first two decades) so as to keep step with the “requirements” of the time. However, the ecclesiastical publications mentioned above amply fulfilled their mission, which was to be genuine luminaries in the ideological darkness of the second half of the last century, as well as warm and constant guides for generations of readers who eagerly sipped the nectar of their Christian teachings.
Keywords – Romanian Orthodox Church, communism, censorship, ecclesiastic press, “Banat Altar (Metropolitan See)”

Gabriel Moisa • Indagine su di una falsificazione storiografica nella Romania comunista: Il “tema-quadro” nei musei storici distrettuali (1985) • p. 151Abstract – An Investigation of a Historiographical Falsification in Communist Romania: the “Frame-Theme” in the Regional History Museums – Under communist rule, Romanian museography was increasingly used for propagandistic purposes, as the years went by. Curators were involved, involuntarily in most cases, in the specific actions of the totalitarian regime propaganda. This made the institutions live in an increasingly limited and extremely well controlled cultural horizon. Too few uncontrolled actions could be performed by Romanian museums. In a totalitarian political system such as the Romanian one, museums were only able to survive, grow and manifest themselves under almost exclusively politically-dictated terms.
Keywords – museography, curators, history, propaganda, totalitarianism

Ioan Derșidan • Documento e letteratura: Appunti sulle collezioni speciali della Biblioteca Universitaria di Oradea • p. 163
Abstract – Documents and Literature: Notes on the Special Collections of the University Library of Oradea – The author presents the special collections housed in the University Library of Oradea, with special regard to the Monica Lovinescu – Virgil Ierunca collection and the Mircea Zaciu collection. The author also describes a manuscript by Monica Lovinescu containing reading notes about Augustin Buzura’s novel Refugii, and the large number of dedications and notes found in the books of Mircea Zaciu.
Keywords – University Library of Oradea, Monica Lovinescu, Virgil Ierunca, Mircea Zaciu

Ion Simuț • Sulla dignità dello scrittore romeno durante il comunismo • p. 169
Abstract – The Dignity of the Romanian Writer during the Communist Period – During the communist period, Romanian writers adopted different attitudes towards the political dictatorship regime. There were very few writers who opposed, with particular shades and intensities, the regime which was, through censorship, limiting civil liberties, including the freedom of creation. The most famous case is that of dissident Paul Goma, which became internationalized after 1971. Still, before him, there had been other protests, materialized in a subversive or dissident literature, such as those of V. Voiculescu, Victor Valeriu Martinescu, Radu Gyr or Păstorel Teodoreanu. Before and after Paul Goma, the anthology of the dignity of the Romanian writer during the communist regime is much broader and it deserves to be known in its true dimensions, in all its political and literary implications.
Keywords – the communist regime in Romania, dissidence, opposition, subversion

Orizzonti del Postmoderno p. 182

Delia Maria Radu • Riflessi della storia e della politica nei romanzi di GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ, SALMAN RUSHDIE e ISABEL ALLENDE • p. 182
Abstract – Historical and Political Echoes in the novels of GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ, SALMAN RUSHDIE and ISABEL ALLENDE – The paper intends to deal with the way history is seen and used in magical realist writings, namely as a subjective view on things happened in the past, precisely because the past can be known only by means of documents, testimonies a.s.o. of other people. Hence, memory plays an important role in telling (his)tories. In Gabriel García Márquez, Salman Rushdie and Isabel Allende’s novels, the reader clearly distinguishes echoes of the historical events occurring in the respective countries, but these events are shaped by the characters’ personal perspectives, which constitute alternative versions to the official History.
Keywords – history, politics, historiographic metafiction, Magic Realism

Emilia David • La poétique bilingue et la représentation de l’histoire dans le theater de Matéi Visniec: Quelques aspects postmodernes de l’écriture dramatique • p. 190Abstract – Bilingual Poetics and the Representation of History in Matéi Visniec’s theatre: Some Postmodern Aspects of Playwriting – Using some fundamental concepts of translation studies, the first part of this paper presents a number of relevant aspects of Matei Vișniec’s dramatic œuvre and analyzes the bilingual status of this writer. The paper focuses, on the one hand, on the representation of the traumatic history of the twentieth century in Eastern European and Balkan cultures and, on the other hand, on the examination of some postmodern themes and aesthetic elements of Vișniec’s dramatic writings. The relation established between human beings and power/history is widely explored by the playwright through the internal mechanisms that govern totalitarian societies, but also through a comprehensive survey, intended to identify, in a critical perspective, the strategies of consumerism and the modalities of mass manipulation.
Keywords – self-translation, bilingualism, ‘post-dramatic theatre’

Mircea Brie, Ioan Horga • Le frontiere europee – espressioni dell’identità • p. 202
Abstract – The European Borders—Expressions of Identity – The identity of the European space and, in particular, that of the European Union is a complex topic that arouses controversy. This study aims to analyze the characteristics of this space through its borders, because their type and organization reflect both image and identity. This analysis can only be accomplished through a complex approach that simultaneously captures both the official point of view and that of the various concepts in the literature dedicated to the subject. Beyond the physical frontier, whatever the approach and perspective, within or on the borders of the European Union, we identify other types of “frontier.” These borders are rightly regarded as symbolic and ideological because, most often, they are not tangible. From Europeanism to nationalism, from ethno-religious identity to social divisions, the wide possibilities of approach can continue even in the context of the new fight against terrorism or the organization of an efficient European neighborhood policy. European borders, internal and external, reflect the image of the European local, regional or overall identity and reality (political, cultural and socio-economic).
Keywords – border, European Union, identity, culture, Europeanism, nationalism, cross-border cooperation

• Varia p. 217Bogdan Briscu • The Romanian Motz Army in 1848–1849: Order of Battle, Tactics, Glossary • p. 219Abstract – The Romanian Motz Army in 1848–1849: Order of Battle, Tactics, Glossary – The Motz, usually known as a peaceful peasant population living in the Western Carpathians, created, under command of their leader Avram Iancu, the most redoutable armed force, that conducted the National War of the Romanians in Transylvania (1848–1849). The legions of the Motz were the only army in Transylvania able to withstand the Hungarian military led by Polish general Bem, until the latter’s defeat through the Russians in August 1849. That is why we aimed to explain the way the military organization of the Motz was put into practice, by showing the recruitment and tactical units, the order of battle, manpower, arming and weapons of the Romanian Landsturm. We also focused on the specific Romanian glossary of the military concepts. Yet the analysis of these important issues cannot justify the military victories of the Motz neither by their numerical, nor by their armed power, whereas the enemy forces exceeded those of the Transylvanian Romanians in any aspect. The most valuable explanation of the miraculous resistance and success of the Motz army relies in the fact that the deployment of the military operations comprised the manoeuvring area of their homeland, revealing the tragic national selfdefense war of the Romanians made against the Hungarian occupants.
Keywords – Motz army, 1848–1849, order of battle, Romanian military glossary

Tatiana Onilov • Organization, Terminology and Structure of the Russian Army in 1849 • p. 229
Abstract – Organization, Terminology and Structure of the Russian Army in 1849 – The goals of our essay are to describe the structure and organization of the tsarist military forces in 1849, in connexion with the corresponding Russian military glossary. Our investigation is based on documents from Russian archives, on military writings and publications of the 19th and 20th centuries. From the general frame of the entire Russian army involved in the tarist campaign in the Austrian Empire, by presenting the supreme military leadership, as well as the general structure and organization of the Russian army, the focus turns to a narrower perspective, referring specifically to the 5th tsarist infantry corps during its summer 1849 intervention in Transylvania against the Hungarian troops. The command over the highly important and decisive military operations in Transylvania was assigned to general adjutant A.N. Lüders, commander in chief of the 5th infantry corps. Although leading a much smaller military force than marshal Paskevich and general Rüdiger, the skillful general Lüders managed to play a crucial role in defeating the Hungarian troops in Transylvania. We analyse the order of battle, the tactical commanders and manpower of the 5th tsarist corps. Not only the good strategy and superior manpower, but also the military training and experience ensured the victory of the Russian army.
Keywords – Tsarist army, 1848–1849, Russian military glossary

Ela Cosma • The Habsburg Army in 1848-1849: Organization and Terminology • p. 243
Abstract – The Habsburg Army in 1848–1849: Organization and Terminology – Based on unedited documents from the War Archive in Vienna, on 1848-1849 and mid 19th century Austrian and Russian printings with military character, as well as on researches of military history, our study offers an analytical approach concerning the structure of the Austrian army in the above-mentioned years. We emphasize the glossary of the Habsburg military institutions and units, as their specific technical, tactical and organizational features are largely reflected by their names and terminology. At the same time, we try to understand how it was possible for such a big imperial military force to prove so little efficiency during the revolutions of 1848–1849 in the Habsburg Monarchy. The circumstantial analysis of the Habsburg military organization offers the answer to questions regarding the strong and the weak points of Austria’s army. Its military system was fit for peacetime, yet it was unprepared and unable to react promptly in times of crisis and war. Austria’s tactical units, so petrified and immobile until 1848, suffered several changes beginning with October-November 1849, in order to increase their capacity of action in case of war. Eventually, the military measures post 1849 were mild, little invasive, rather formal than structural, reflecting a “Redression” (recovery), not a real “Reform” of the Habsburg army.
Keywords – Habsburg army, 1848-1849, Austrian military glossary

Sonia Pavlenko, Cristina Bojan, Andrei Kelemen, Mihaela Aluas • Academic Writing: Global Views and Romanian Trends • p. 259Abstract – Academic Writing: Global Views and Romanian Trends – Academic writing is a field not sufficiently explored nor investigated in Romania to date. This article aims at offering the fundamental characteristics of academic writing by analyzing global views and contrasting them to Romanian perspectives. It discusses the main-stream approaches to academic writing, looking at its development from a historical perspective and then analyzing comparatively contemporary approaches. Furthermore, it investigates Romanian efforts in the direction of developing academic writing awareness and suggests a possible path to be taken by Romanian higher education institutions.
Key words – academic writing, scientific writing, scientific authoring, scientific production

Călin Cornel Pop • The Functional Territorial Units in Transylvania (10th–16th centuries) • p. 271
Abstract – The Functional Territorial Units in Transylvania during the 10th–16th centuries – Writing a paper indicating the historical-territorial units, their evolution as well as the varied changes recorded in the name and structure of the territorial administration across Transylvania (from the 10th to 16th centuries) has become necessary due to the radical transformation undergone by the said administration as well as to the need to better inform the general public and particularly the specialists concerned with historical, territorial, geographic, economic, political or social, etc. issues or those engaged in territory research meant to support public or territorial planning policies. After the dissolution of the Dacian state as a result of king Burebista’s dethroning, the Roman Empire established its Danubian borders and incorporated, one by one, all the regions situated on both banks of the Lower Danube, then within Roman jurisdiction. Only the union of the Transylvanian Dacian defied the Roman Empire and remained firm in their decision to continue its process of consolidation into statal units. This situation brought about long periods of warfare under king Decebal, which ended with the defeat of the Dacians and the transformation of a large part of Dacia into a Roman province. “Transylvania,” or “Ardeal,” are two names commonly used in reference to the Romanian territory covering the entire western side of the Carpathian Alps. Another name the Romanians use for this territory is “Ardeal.” Due to its particular and, at the same time, outstanding geographical individuality, its unique ethno-demographic base, its distinctive economy and social-administrative structures at work between the 10th and 16th centuries—the kniezates and the voivodates, the counties and the countries and above all, due to its own system of statuses and spatial-temporal institutions of political and cultural type that took shape throughout a long process of historical evolution, the administrative homogeneity of Transylvania is the consequence of an intense diversification of the historical conditions with their specific symptomatology and inter-conditionings that supported the complementary relationships amongst its regions. All these aspects have begot life environments of extraordinary economic potential that are well-differentiated enough so as to support one another, and, when reunited, to achieve the overall homogeneity of today’s Transylvania.
Keywords – Transylvania, kniezates, voivodates, counties, countries (land)

Florin Iosif Moldovan • The Wager of Law in The History of Other Peoples • p. 277
Abstract – The Wager of Law in The History of Other Peoples – The wager of law or compurgation existed in the three Romanian Countries, functioning in the juridical systems of various periods of time and adapting in accordance with them. At first, this institution appeared to be conditioned by kinship relations, being the legal expression of family solidarity. During this time, criminal trials were more frequent, which means that family solidarity, expressed through collective oaths, tended to manifest itself in this type of litigations. In the Middle Ages, in the period of transition from gentilic relations to feudal relations, the wager of law underwent a transformation, becoming the institution of class solidarity. It began to be used in civil lawsuits disputing land and the ownership thereof. In this way, compurgators or oath-helpers and oaths appeared in trials as means of providing legal evidence, functioning as an institution that was well known to the Romanian people. Many historians and jurists refer to the general characteristics of this institution, contending and attempting to prove that compurgation was borrowed from various other nations. Embarking on an analogous demonstration, we have shown how the wager of law system was regarded by these peoples, with a view to disproving the above claims as unfounded. Although the written legal sources from the first millennium are virtually inexistent, there are sufficient documents from the second millennium that support and emphasise the Romanian origin of this institution. The study of these documents reveals that compurgation represented an ancient practice, being used as a custom, as the law of the land. The method of securing evidence by means of compurgation was used by all the social classes, ranging from litigations among the peasants to lawsuits involving the great nobles or even certain rulers. In almost all the documents describing trials where the wager of law was used, the following indications appeared: “under law and justice,” “as done since the beginning of time,” “as we know from olden times,” “according to the law and custom,” after the law of the land.
Keywords – compurgators, origin, legal expression, evidence, history of law.

George Ungureanu •The Regime of Land Property in Southern Dobrodja (1913–1924): A Decade of Maximum Instability• p. 290 Abstract – The Regime of Land Property in Southern Dobrodja (1913-1924): A Decade of Maximum Instability – In 1913, after the Second Balkan War, Romania gained Southern Dobrodja (7,700 km2), a region inhabited by Turks and Bulgarians, the former clearly dominating the socio economic life. The rural regime established during the Ottoman Age, was rather unclear in distinguishing the state and the private land properties. This article focuses on the Romanian legislature’s rather inconsequent manner of dealing with such a complex inheritance, between 1913 and 1924. The period includes no less than four major changes (in 1914, 1921, 1922 and 1924) and two years of war between Bulgaria and Romania. (1916-1918). Because of this prolonged initial incoherence, the consequent Romanian attempt to colonize Southern Dobrodja was a failure.
Keywords – miri, mülk, project, land law, colonization, nationalization

Vilmos Erøs • Das Textbuch als „kulturelle Repräsentation“: Über die historiographische Sammlung von Adam Budd • p. 309 Abstract – The Textbook As cultural representation: on the Historiographical Collection of Adam Budd – The study analyses the textbook of Adam Budd about the modern European historiography (The Modern Historiography Reader: Western Sources, 2009). The author introduces the chapters of the books chronologically and in details, highlights the here emerging problems such as “conjectural history,” positivism, Geistesgeschichte (intellectual history), Marxism, feminism, etc. The work proves (according to the author), that the most fruitful way of treating of the theoretical questions of history is the historical, not the systematic method. Comparing with the former textbooks (suiting this logic) turns out, that works like that are in many respects self-referential, that means, they speak as much of their/our time and culture as of the ‘reality’/material depicted, so they can be interpreted as a kind of “cultural representation.”
Keyword – Adam Budd, modern European, historiography, cultural representation